Soldier Falls
by Space Keet
Summary: Soldier 76 swims with the fishes, almost literally, in the Gravity Falls lake. Some not-time travel may be involved.
1. Talon's new toy

Heavy boots thudded on the paved street as it gets torn apart by gunfire after said boots. The owner of said boots twists his torso, squeezing off a few of his own rounds in retaliation. The lone vigilante dives into a nearby alley way as a single shot grazes his calf and he hisses in pain. He continues running as more shots tear apart the street and walls.

Soldier 76 is not having a very great day as far as vigilantes working outside the law's days go. He was going after a 'small' Talon force. Turns out, by small the reports meant Reaper, Widowmaker and at least five high order Talon agents escorting a new toy. Getting the reports was easy, since Winston left them lying on his desk and Athena was distracted by Tracer. He prefers if his old team doesn't know who he is.

He ducks just as Reaper's guns come into view, firing off blasts into empty space. The vigilante rolls away before peeking out and squeezing off a few of his own fusion rounds.

The vigilante curses as a few pellets of buckshot strike his stomach, causing him to miss Reaper. He doubles over in pain, trying to hold it together after being winded. Luckily, his plate carrier stopped everything. Unluckily, as soon as he recovers, the man advances to him and punches him right in the visor. Soldier 76 reels backwards and tries to focus before Reaper sweeps his legs right out from underneath him, causing him to fall flat on his back.

Reaper lifts his boot and stomps the dented armour plate, causing 76's vision to blur and to cry out in pain muffled by his visor.

"We should test out the machine, Reaper, get him in quickly!" A voice says, somewhere above Soldier 76.

The pressure on his ruined armour plate lessens, but a clawed hand grabs at the vigilante's collar and drags him none too gently to the machine, whirring in eerie silence.

Soldier 76 struggles against Reaper's grip as Widowmaker walks up, looks into his visor and grins, "Well, we are finally getting rid of a gigantic thorn in our side."

Reaper laughs and punches Soldier 76's stomach again, causing the man to yell out and his grip to weaken. He manages to keep his hold on his fusion gun using sheer willpower.

Widowmaker nods to one of the Talon agents and she switches the machine on, distorting the air inside the gate's frame and ripping a hole into space. Soldier 76 gets a sense of dread and struggles more against Reaper as he drags him over to the machine, sucking anything that was light and not tied down. The vigilante struggles endlessly against the shadow trying to get free, trying everything to heed his instincts' warnings about Talon's toy and to get out of here.

Reaper looks at Soldier 76 struggling less and less as his breath grows shorter. The Talon agent laughs in amusement as 76 attempts to bring his fusion gun up to shoot, but Reaper releases his neck and throws him into the screen by his upper left arm. Soldier 76's back smacks the side of the gate of the machine as he gets pulled in. Reaper himself disappears into a cloud of black, satisfied with himself.

Wind howls past Soldier 76's ears as he falls through the night sky, just beginning to turn dawn. 76 furrows his brow, why is he falling? He wasn't airborne a second ago. He twists around under serious aching pain, and sees a lake rushing up to meet him with open arms.

Luckily when Soldier 76 arrived, was only ten metres above the lake, the bad news is that a fall from that height on to water would push all the air from a person's body. The vigilante plunges, then surfaces, coughing up water and struggling to see through a leak in his visor. He rolls onto his back and floats, slowly passing out.

The early morning sun shines off of Dipper and Mabel's auburn hair as they trek through the Oregon forest of their first official day back at Gravity Falls for the summer. The birds sing and the river rushes by.

Mabel stops and faces the direction of one of the lakes many rivers, "Hey, Dipper, you hear that?"

Dipper pauses climbing a tree and turns his ear to the direction of the river and furrows his brows at the noise. He jumps down and moves closer, the sound of the river split.

"It's too early for Multi-bear to be fishing and too quiet for any of the others," Dipper observes, moving a bush down from his vision to see the river.

"What is it Dip-dop?" Mabel whispers as she moves over to the bush to look.

Dipper quickly moves through the bush and stalks over to the river with Mabel close behind.

Mabel saw the body before Dipper did and quickly rushes to his side.

Dipper puts his hands to his face as he looks down at the man's bloodied blue leather jacket, a rather interesting gun sitting at the water's edge as Mabel pinpoints the source of the blood. She takes off the current sweater, a simple blue, black and red one and presses it against Soldier 76's left arm.

"Dipper, we need to get him back to the shack!" Mabel says, leaning all of her weight onto the spot.

Dipper kneels by and puts two fingers to 76's neck, a steady but weak pulse greats them, "He's alive, weak pulse, but alive. Where'd he come from?"

Mabel from her spot somehow manages to kick Dipper, "Can we worry about that after we save the guy?!"

Dipper recovers from the kick and retrieves his hat, "Right, right," he gets up at takes a look at the scene before him. He walks up to the gun and somewhat struggles to pick it up.

"Mabel, tie your sweater as tightly as you can around the wound, we're not tall enough to support his weight fully, so we'll need to drag him to the shack," Dipper says, while going for the soldier's right arm.

Mabel nods, and after tying her sweater around his bleeding left arm, she grabs it.

The twins lift the heavy soldier, eliciting a pained groan from the man.

Dipper lets out a strained breath, "Whew he's heavy, kinda glad we're the same height."

Mabel grins devilishly and Dipper glares at her, "Shut up!"

The twins begin to drag their new friend out of the bank and into the forest, going up a lower ledge to ease the work effort on them.

Dipper steps over a stick and the gun hits his leg, "Oof, oh I hope the safety is on on this thing."

Mabel looks over Soldier 76's head at Dipper, "So this happened on our first day here, the weirdness never ends!"

Dipper laughs, "No I don't suppose it does, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this guy says he fell out of the sky."

Mabel giggles, "Me neither!"

Soldier 76 groans and stirs, the Twins stopping to see if he'd wake. When he didn't they continued to drag him to the direction of the shack.

A couple of beeps sound and Wendy parks the golf cart next to them, "Sup guys, whoa, where'd you drag him out of?"

"The main river coming out of the lake," Mabel says, pointing her foot in the general direction.

Wendy looks at the full grown man being held up by two teenagers with a blood soaked sweater around his upper left arm.

She narrows her eyes before pointing to the attached flat-bed to the cart, "Well he won't last long if you drag him all the way back, put him on the bench seat."

The twins pull him as gently as they could onto the bed, Dipper heaving the fusion gun into the golf cart's small trunk as he sits down next to Mabel.

"He's as secure as a gnome on a sugar high, full speed ahead!" Mabel screams with too much enthusiasm.

Dipper scrunches his face in thought as the cart moves. He turns to Mabel, "Mabel, what the heck?"

Wendy hits a bump and winces, the twins turning their heads to their passenger who just moved a few centimetres to the left.

"He's OK, keep driving," Dipper says.

Wendy nods and speeds the cart up, the three conscious members seeing the roof of the shack in the distance.

Wendy expertly drifts into the dirt yard of the shack, Mabel launching off and inside before the cart stopped sliding.

"Soos! Gruncle Stan! Gruncle Ford! Melody! Abuelita!" Mabel screams from inside as Wendy and Dipper move to carefully slide 76 off the cart's bench seat.

Dipper and Wendy barely get Soldier 76 up the first step before the Gruncles take him from them to carry him inside quicker.

Ford spots the fusion gun and nods his head towards it, "Dipper, bring that inside."

Dipper nods, grabbing the gun and following the Gruncles down to the spare room that used to be Ford's.

"On the couch," Ford says simply, as they move him onto the sofa.

Ford removes the now very red sweater and looks at the wound, "Hmmmm, looks like some kind of sharp trauma, some kind of claw?"

Mabel hands over a towel and Ford presses it to the wound, moving over to check 76's armoured vest. Small dents dot the surface.

"Too dangerous to get this off now, I need him upright."

"I'll go get some water for our friend doods," Soos says as he walks off to the kitchen, Melody and Wendy following.

"We'll tend to him," Stan says as he brings in the first aid kit.

The twins assist wordlessly.


	2. Hostile greetings

Soldier 76 groans in pain as he wakes up, feeling something ice cold on his stomach. He opens his eyes to the ceiling, the red of his visor not prominent, meaning it was removed. The soldier starts to panic, the last thing he needed was to be in someone's else's house with his visor off.

"Dipper, he's awake!" he hears a girl's voice says as her face pops into his vision.

A young male's face appears next to the girls. Soldier 76 tries to focus.

"Hello there, my sister and found you at the river bank, got into quite the fight didn't you?" the child says with a slight grin.

Soldier 76 allows himself to move a bit to look around the room, "Where am I?"

"Oh you're at the Mystery Shack in Gravity Falls, Oregon," the girl answers from her spot on the back of the sofa.

The boy laughs, "Though right now it's the Mystery Hack since the 'S' won't stay up."

"Hey, you led the wax figure of Sherlock Holmes up there," the girl says and her brother glares at her, "Yes I am aware it's my fault."

"Anyways, my name's Mabel and this is my twin brother, Dipper, what's your name?" Mabel asks.

The vigilante looks at the Twins, "Soldier 76."

Dipper shrugs and grins, "OK there, Soldier."

Mabel giggles, "Well, Dipper you find out where he came from, I'm going to get waddles." She hops off the sofa, walking out of the room.

Dipper's face hovers over his, "Sooooo, this may sound like a really weird question, but did you fall from the sky?"

"Yes, I went through this screen, I was thrown in by an enemy," Soldier 76 says.

Dipper purses his lips, "So you're from a different reality?"

Soldier 76 pauses at that, "I don't know, do you know the Omnic Crisis?"

"The what?" Dipper asks.

Both men groan for very different reasons.

Dipper pinches the bridge of his nose, "oooh he's not going to like this, not at all."

"Reiterate?" Soldier 76 asks.

Dipper looks at him, "Well you're from a different reality on what my Gruncle Ford calls the 'W' axis, basically you're from a different copy of Earth with a different history."

Soldier 76 moves his hands over his face and groans.

Dipper walks towards the door and looks back towards 76, "Well, I'm going to get Gruncle Stan and Gruncle Ford, Mabel will be back shortly."

Soldier 76 stares at the ceiling thinking about Talon's agents and their toy. They managed to make something that could punch into other worlds. He may have to leave an anonymous tip to Winston when he gets back.

Soon Soldier 76 hears the sound of hooves and shoes, turning his head down just as Mabel walks in, getting startled by his movement.

"Whoa, glad your visor is red and not yellow, startled me there," Mabel says as Waddles goes to inspect Soldier 76's hand.

"I was going to ask what you meant, but you're all crazy to me," Soldier 76 says as he pets the pig.

Mabel shrugs and walks over the end of the sofa, sitting down, "That mind set might change, normally I'd agree with you if we met last summer and before I met an actual space demon."

Soldier 76 grimaces underneath the visor as he fixes the ice pack under his back, Mabel assisting when Dipper walks in with the Gruncles.

"Alright, Soldier 76, my nephew tells me you're from another reality and you probably don't believe us, so here's today's paper," Stan says, hovering the paper above 76's face.

Soldier 76 furrows his brows at the headline, that's not right the right date, nor any news agency he's familiar with.

He groans, "Alright, I'm convinced, you're not crazy."

Stan nods, content, straightens up and moves to the doorway, "Ford wants a couple of words with you, name's Stanley."

Soldier 76 tilts his head to look at Ford as he seems to organize some notes.

"Alright, I'll help you get back home, but if you hurt these kids, I'll put you back in the lake…..Dead," Ford deadpans.

"I'll keep that in mind," Soldier 76 says as he fixes a stray bit of his jacket that was bugging him.

"Right, Poindexter, he got the memo, lets go nerd-" Stan starts before 76 catches his attention.

"Yeah?"

"Where did you put my gun?"

Stan shares a glance with Ford, "it's in the basement behind the vending machine in the gift-shop, though you need a code to get in. Poindexter here knows the code to the safe it's kept in downstairs, so you'll have to wait till he trusts you enough to get it back."

76 nods, "Got it."

The Gruncles nod and exit the room, leaving the Twins with Soldier 76.

After a few minutes of waiting, the twins jerk their heads up suddenly and face the door as Ford walks back in with a tray of food.

Ford stands by with the tray and looks at their guest, "Sit up straight, _Soldier_ , if that's what you want to be called. Very hard to eat on your back."

Soldier 76 faces the ceiling, steeling himself for this is going to hurt and a whole lot worse than saving a little girl from a grenade. He lifts his left arm painfully and grips the back of the sofa, preparing to drag himself up.

He grunts in pain as he hoists himself up quickly and very, very painfully, "Aaaaarrrrrgh, uugnn."

The twins quickly stop him from falling back down, having him lean into the back. Mabel wipes the sweat off of his brow with her sweater as Dipper brings the tray of food closer. 76 blinks a few times as his vision fades before returning and he looks down at the food.

Two slices of cut toast with jam, a small scone, some fruit, homemade hashbrowns and a glass of orange juice. Dipper carefully places the tray on 76's lap as the soldier grabs the glass of orange juice and starts drinking it slowly.

Ford regards the man with a glare, "How exactly did you end up here?"

Soldier 76 pauses inserting a strawberry into his mouth and looks at him, "I was fighting a small team of Talon Agents escorting a new machine, which from what I just experienced, sends you into another reality." He takes a pause to chew on the strawberry and pop a blueberry into his mouth.

"These agents turned out to be five of their best with their two top agents, Reaper and Widowmaker. Reaper got a lucky hit with a buckshot shell, he beat me, and threw me into the machine and not gently either," Soldier 76 finishes as he eats more of the fruit.

"As soon as Fiddleford and I get the portal up, you're leaving," Ford says coldly, moving to the door.

"Gruncle Ford! He's in no shape to leave!" Dipper counters, standing up from 76's side.

"Yeah! Who knows how long it's been since he's actually had a good meal?" Mabel agrees fiercely.

Ford grits his teeth and whirls around, "You kids do remember last year right? I will _not_ be making the same mistakes again!"

Dipper's face softens, "I know Gruncle Ford, but he's clearly human since he's on the couch, in your old room, eating Melody's food."

Ford's brows furrow in anger, "But what if he's posse-"

"Gruncle Ford, not here," Mabel says, pointing to Soldier 76 cramming a piece of toast into his mouth.

Soldier 76 looks at them surprised, like he just came back to earth and he swallows his mouthful, "You wanted me?"

Mabel shakes her head, "Nope!"

Soldier 76 shrugs and goes back to eating, clearly comfortable.

"Dipper, Mabel, keep all ears on him at all times, I still don't trust him," Ford says as he leaves the room to the three of them.

"He doesn't trust me," 76 observes as he drinks the last of his orange juice.

The twins share a nervous smile and Dipper speaks up, "Yeah, granted he has a good reason to."

"I wouldn't say you had to prove yourself to him, but you have to prove yourself to him that he can trust you," Mabel says, taking Soldier 76's empty tray from his lap.

"So how was breakfast?" Dipper asks, changing the subject.

The corners of Soldier 76's mouth twitch into a slight smile, "Best breakfast I've had in months."

Dipper grins, "Melody would be glad to hear that."

Mabel nods, "She would!"

Soldier 76 wipes the crumbs off of his gloves before taking them off and setting them down on the sofa.

"Yeesh, punch people often?" Mabel questions, pointing to his scarred hands.

Soldier 76 looks down at them, scarred from repairing his gear, punching people, cuts and some old wounds from his past, "Yes."

The twins grin at him and Mabel hugs him, careful to not hurt him, "We have some too, it's no big deal."

Soldier 76 hesitantly returns the hug, wincing as he stretches the wounds on his arm, "Too many memories."

"Too many stories," Dipper agrees, taking his phone out of his pocket.

He looks at his phone for awhile before facing Soldier 76, "Well, Soldier, we best leave you to rest, Wendy and the others want to be filled in."

Soldier 76 nods then yawns, "I think that'd be a great plan."

The twins laugh and leave the room, closing the door behind them. 76 grunts in pain as he lays back down on the sofa, closing his eyes.


	3. Solid Soldier

Soldier 76 opens his eyes to the Mystery Shack's spare room and almost panics before he remembers were he is. From his spot on the sofa he looks around the room until he finds a clock, a little after midday, he should try to sneak into the kitchen and grab a snack. He sits up, biting back a pained grunt as he straightens out. Soldier 76 braces his stomach, planting his feet firmly on the floor and stands up, nearly falling back over onto the sofa. He starts to limp towards the door.

"You better not be moving around down there!" Mabel screams from the attic.

After Soldier 76 recovers from nearly having a heart attack, he walks back to the sofa. She's in the attic, how did she hear him?

"That's what I thought!" she yells.

Soldier 76 stands around the room, carefully walking around when his back complains. He reaches around and touches his back, wincing as he touches the bruise. He looks at his fingers to see blood, meaning he split some of his skin when he hit the machine.

"No wonder it hurts more than my arm," he mutters, carefully sitting down on the sofa. He still wants a snack, but Mabel seems to have this place memorised to a dime. Soldier 76 removes his boots and notices the rest of his gear in a pile by the table.

Now that he's just wearing socks, maybe he might be able to sneak into the kitchen. He carefully walks across the floorboards, testing each one before putting his foot down fully. The vigilante makes it to the door without alerting Mabel, opening it and slipping into the small hallway. He carefully climbs the steps leading up into the main hallway. Now to find the kitchen.

Soldier 76 carefully walks along the hallway, dodging creaky floorboards until he reaches some stairs leading into an empty room that looks like a dance floor. He steps down the stairs and walks onto the floor careful not to slip. He steps on a bad spot and slips anyway, landing hard on his back earning an annoyed groan from the injured soldier.

He hears quick boot steps and looks to see Ford rushing over from a line of chairs to help him up.

"Here let me help you," Ford offers, grabbing Soldier 76's good arm and quickly pulling him up onto his feet.

"Uurrk, thank you," Soldier 76 says to the older man, while gripping his back and stomach.

"No problem, why are you out of your room?" Ford asks, making sure the soldier is stable. Ford notices blood welling up on the bruise on his back.

Soldier 76 looks at him, straightening his back and hissing in pain, "Hungry, where's the kitchen?"

Ford points up at the hall, "Down the hall to the end, take a right through the door, straight past the stairs. It's empty."

"Thank you again," Soldier 76 says as he climbs up the stairs and walks down the hall.

Ford walks back to the chairs to continue reading.

Following Ford's directions, Soldier 76 walks into the empty kitchen and makes a beeline to the fridge. The vigilante opens the fridge door, spotting the milk and taking it out. Now on the hunt for a glass he opens a cupboard next to the fridge, which contained glasses. Taking one out he pours himself a glass of milk and puts the milk back into the fridge.

He turns around to the table to notice an open packet of chocolate chip cookies, taking a handful he turns to leave to see a very disappointed Mabel standing in the doorway.

Soldier 76 looks at the girl, "I was hungry and I woke up a few minutes ago."

Mabel keeps her arms crossed and raises a brow, "Alright."

Soldier 76 takes a sip from his glass of milk, "I am walking back to my room now."

Mabel moves over to allow him to pass, only to gently grab his good arm and drag him down the hall, "I'll show you where the bathroom is at least, try only going there when you need to."

Soldier 76 helplessly gets dragged by Mabel as she leads him down the hall towards the dance floor, but stops at a door he didn't notice before.

"Here's the downstairs bathroom, now, go back to your room and rest. You need a lot more than four hours of rest," Mabel commands.

Soldier 76 nods, taken aback by Mabel's sudden change in demeanour and limps down the hall to his room.

After Mabel watches him close his door, she walks down the halls and back upstairs.

Soldier 76 finished his snack and tried to nap, to no avail, he had to use the toilet. After using the toilet he tried napping again, using his tattered jacket as a blanket. He ended up wandering around the room, looking at everything and organising his stuff out by the table next to the door.

He stretches and grips at his stomach, wincing in pain. The vigilante decides to risk exploring the Shack again since he probably won't be getting to sleep until later. He exits his room and steps out when footsteps catch his attention. Turning his head right he sees Dipper walking towards him.

"Cabin fever?" the teen questions, stopping in front of him.

Soldier 76 nods.

Dipper walks past him and reaches the door, turning around to face Soldier 76, "You coming? A bit of TV might help."

Soldier 76 follows Dipper through and into the living room where Stan and one other man are watching TV.

Dipper steps down and gestures to the other man sitting on a dinosaur skull next to a second empty recliner, "That's Soos, and you've already met Gruncle Stan."

The two men wave at the soldier and he waves back while stepping down into lounge.

Stan points to the empty recliner next to him, "Sit down, it's Ford's but he won't mind."

Soldier 76 hesitates, "Are you sure? He doesn't exactly trust me."

Stan sighs, "Look, he may distrust you, but you're hurt and he even can't refuse someone hurt and in need of help. So sit down before you hurt yourself, Dipper here told me that bruise on your back is pretty nasty."

Soldier 76 nods, limping towards the recliner, "It is, the skin split." He painfully sits down on the chair.

Soos holds up some gauze and medical tape, "Bam! Emergency gauze and tape dood."

The vigilante lets Soos apply the gauze and tape on his back as Dipper sits down in between Soldier 76 and Stan.

"So what's on?" Dipper asks.

"Eh, new car show called Bottom Gear," Stan answers.

"Colombia special too, dood," Soos says as he leans back, forgetting he's sitting on the dinosaur skull and nearly falling off.

"Whoa, careful Soos," Dipper says, worrying over his friend.

Soldier 76 notices Stan seeming uncomfortable as they're watching the special, "Memories?"

Stan nods, "Not good ones that's for certain."

"Been shot at once, bullet graze though instead of Buckshot," Stan says while the people in Bottom Gear drive through a run down looking neighbourhood.

"That so? How did you fare?" Soldier 76 asks the old man as he watches the show, his boredom sated for a while.

"Pretty well, for someone in a bad spot at the time," Stan answers, taking a sip of his soda and laughing at something stupid Harmon did to Clarke.

Soldier 76 chuckles at the scene, "Yeah, I know that all too well, how often did you move, if you don't mind me asking?"

Stan waves his hand dismissively, "All in the past, and to answer that question, every fortnight."

"My turn to ask a question!" Dipper says, tilting his head back to look at Soldier 76, "This has been bugging me ever since Mabel and I found you in the river, but, who are you, really?"

Soldier 76 narrows his eyes, "That is a very loaded question, and one I don't wish to answer."

"Oh come on, Soldier 76 can _not_ be your real name. I promise not to tell anyone," Dipper whines and pouts at him.

"That's real mature Dipper, c'mon Soos, I think I hear tourists driving up," Stan says, getting up from his recliner and moving across the room to the entrance of the Gift Shop.

Soos follows him, "I think you're right Stan!"

Dipper turns up the volume of the TV and looks up at Soldier 76 expectantly, "Please? Just your real name, I promise not to tell anybody, not even Mabel."

Soldier 76 sighs, well at least the kid won't know him, "It's John 'Jack' Morrison, you better keep your word."

Dipper nods, fake zipping his mouth closed and throwing away a 'key', "You have my word."

The vigilante glares at him anyway when he hears someone running down the hall.

Mabel breaks into the living room, "Dipper have you seen – oh there he is!"

Soldier 76 raises his brow, "Did you need me?"

Mabel shakes her head, "No, but Gruncle Ford left a shirt on the sofa for you. Could you try to stay in one place? I though you went outside!"

"I wouldn't go outside without my visor or my shirt," Soldier 76 says, getting up from Ford's recliner and moving out into the hallway.

"You OK Dipper? You look lost in thought," he hears Mabel say and Soldier 76 stops in the hallway.

"Hm? Oh, nothing to worry about I'm fine," Dipper responds.

Soldier 76 smiles and walks into his room to find a clean black shirt folded neatly on the sofa. There's a note on top and the soldier picks it up to read it.

"'Have one of my spare black shirts for your stay here, ~ Ford'," Soldier 76 reads to himself and looks at the folded shirt.

He picks up the shirt and spots the slightly covered mirror against the wall. Soldier 76 walks over to the mirror and takes of the cloth, facing his back towards it so he can see the state of his bruise. He grimaces as he sees it, a nasty black and purple bruise with dried bits of blood surrounding it. Two squares of blood stained gauze and tape are on the area's of the bruise where the skin got split. Mostly on the area above his spine.

The soldier pulls the lent shirt over his head, fitting comfortably on his broad frame, wincing as it rubs the bruises on his back and stomach. He walks over to his discarded gear and checks how many biotic fields he has. The vigilante groans, only one and it's on low power. He's going to have to save that.

He leaves his room and walks to the base of the stairs leading up to the second floor. He climbs the stairs and walks down the hall, looking around when he notices another set of stairs. Soldier 76 walks up those ones and notices another door opening up into another room. He walks towards it and a little too late, spots Mabel sitting on one of the beds.

"You can come in, Soldier!" Mabel calls out as he tries to escape back down the stairs.

Soldier 76 walks into the room and quickly covers his face as she takes a picture.

She pouts at him.

"As long as no one else looks at it, you can take another picture," Soldier 76 says, lowering his hand.

Mabel rubs her scrapbook thoughtfully, "It'll be more of a precaution in case something happens. No one else outside of the Shack, this family and the Zodiac will see it, I promise."

Soldier 76 looks at her face then nods. She beams at him and snaps another picture, "Thank you Soldier!"

Mabel pats the spot next to her on her bed, "Sit down, we have a few hours until dinner."

Soldier 76 walks across the floor, dodging papers and a pig before coming to the bed, sitting down and nearly falling backwards.

Mabel digs through a basket at the foot of the bed and holds up a large half done sweater that looks very similar to his jacket.

"So I took your measurements while we were patching you up, do you like it?" Mabel asks.

Soldier 76 looks at the partially done sweater and nods, "Yes, I do."

Mabel grins at him and sets the sweater aside. She turns to him and sees an old burn scar on his neck, "Is the burn scar on your neck the reason for the gruff voice?"

Soldier 76 nods, "Yes."

"Well now you got some news ones to add to the mix!" Mabel says with a laugh.

Soldier 76 laughs with her, a harsh but meaningful sound.

"Can I ask you something, Mabel?" Soldier 76 inquires while looking at her scrapbook.

"Yeah."

"Dipper mentioned that you and him found me, is that true?"

"Yep, one of the rivers coming out of the lake, you're lucky we found you!" Mabel says, shoving the scrapbook into his hands.

Soldier 76 looks at it.

"Help me?"

Soldier 76 nods and helps Mabel with her scrapbook until dinner.


	4. Let's go for a walk

Soldier 76 wakes up to stare at the back of a sofa and a very sore everything. He really doesn't want to get up. Soos' girlfriend, Melody, makes a really good pepper roast beef. According to the talk at the dinner table, Soos, Melody and Soos' grandma live in an extension that was built during the year, the entrance to said extension is at the end of the storage room hallway.

Ford comes barging into his room in a frantic craze, startling Soldier 76 to the floor.

The soldier looks at the older man in confusion and concern, "What's happening?!"

Ford wheels around to him, "Look you don't have much time so you need to answer me truthfully and quickly, when did you fall, where did you fall and what was your approximate distance?!"

"Just before dawn, above a large lake, approximately ten metres in the air," Soldier 76 answers, feeling the pain from falling on the floor.

Ford seems to be muttering to himself, "Yesterday at four AM, above Gravity Falls lake, approximately ten metres, OK thank you!"

He dashes out of the room leaving Soldier 76 in confused pain on the floor.

Soldier 76 painfully climbs back onto the sofa then stands up, walking to the now open door and to the kitchen. He reaches the kitchen to see the Twins holding bottles of syrup above their tongues and Soos and a red haired female cheering on the drops. Soldier 76 sneaks past the four people to the fridge as Dipper's drop wins, causing him to cough at the strong syrup. The soldier pours himself a glass of milk.

"Morning Soldier!" Mabel greets.

Soldier 76 nods in greeting while drinking his milk.

The red haired teen turns to face him and grins, "Oh hey, you're looking better than yesterday morning,"

The soldier raises a brow, "Do I?"

"Well you were almost dead yesterday, so yep, a lot better," she says with a laugh.

Dipper notices the vigilante, "Oh, this is Wendy the -cough- single best kart driver here."

"Hey! Not every day you have to drive a near-dead guy back to the shack. You two kinda put me on the spot," Wendy says.

"Ah, thank you Wendy," the vigilante says, finishing his milk and putting the glass in the sink.

"It was no problem Mr. 76, if you're feeling really sore today, you know why," the teen says apologetically and walks out of the kitchen, talking with Soos.

Mabel hops down from her chair and walks over to Soldier 76, "Do you want to come into town with us?"

Soldier 76 is about to shake his head when Dipper grins, "That was a rhetorical question, we're dragging you with us."

Mabel goes to grab his arm and he pulls it out of her reach, "My visor."

The twins look at each other and nod, Dipper running out of the kitchen to the soldier's room. He returns with the visor and gives it to the man.

Soldier 76 slips the base on and attaches the visor, "Now I need my boots."

He goes to walk out of the kitchen when Mabel speeds past him, quickly returning with his boots, "Got them!"

The soldier chuckles as he grabs his boots from the girl, sitting down on one of the chairs and painfully tugging his boots on.

He stands up and the twins waste no time in grabbing one of his scarred arms each, dragging him outside and onto the grass. The twins lead Soldier 76 to Soos' truck, where Wendy is leaning against the radiator twirling the keys around her finger.

Wendy stops the keys and opens the passenger door for the soldier, "Ladies first."

Soldier 76 climbs into the truck as Wendy and the twins get in. After everyone gets buckled in, Wendy starts the truck and drives down the drive way.

"Any particular place you guys are taking me to?" Soldier 76 asks as they drive past a restaurant.

"Well you do want to get home right? So we might as well take you to help Gruncle Ford, he did barge through your door this morning," Mabel says from the back seat.

"Yeah, I thought we were under attack," Soldier 76 says.

Dipper laughs, "Trust me, you'd know if we were under attack."

"Yeah, there'd be more screaming and you'd see cryptids," Wendy jokes as they turn onto the lake's front yard, Wendy parking just before the boat shack.

Soldier 76 gets out of the truck and sees Ford walking around this medium sized device. Soldier 76 walks up to it and goes to touch it when a hand smacks his away.

"Ah wouldn't touch 'er if I were you," the hill-billy says as he writes some things down on his clipboard.

"Oh, hello Soldier," Ford greets when he notices him.

Soldier 76 nods to him in greeting, "Morning." The vigilante steps back to allow Ford to get to the device.

"What is this machine?" he asks.

"It'll help us catch your reality's 'address' of sorts. Of course we're kind of pressed for time and this device isn't finding where you told me," Ford says, trying to keep his voice level.

Soldier 76 inspects the device, "How long is the tear open for?"

"48 hours, we have 18 hours left," Ford says, starting to worry.

Soldier 76 looks at the lake and the boats, "Can you put this on a boat?"

Ford and the hill-billy look at him in confusion, "Yes, why?"

"Put it on a boat and I'll guide you were I took a swim," Soldier 76 commands.

"But what if we lose it?!" Ford yells.

Soldier 76 twists his head back to the older man, "Should have made two."

"Whoa, no chill dude," Wendy remarks.

The twins help Ford and Fiddleford carry the device as they follow Soldier 76 to a boat.

"The one on the left!" Ford calls out.

Soldier 76 follows Ford's call and boards a medium sized yacht with 'Stan O' War II' on it's side. Stan is already on the boat, walking over to help Ford and Fiddleford set the machine down on the deck.

"Gruncle Stan, Gruncle Ford, we're going into town with Wendy, meet you back at the shack!" Mabel says as her and Dipper run off.

"Alright, see ya later ya knuckleheads!" Stan calls after them.

As soon as Ford and Fiddleford tied down the device securely, and everyone got life-jackets, Stan turned on the engines and steered away from the docks.

"Alright, Soldier stand at the front and direct, you know were you took a swim," Stan says as he steers into the lake.

Soldier 76 limps across the deck to the front and directs Stan to a specific spot in the lake, "Here."

The older men nod, Stan drops the anchor, Ford and Fiddleford work on the device. Soldier 76 walks over and looks at the head panel.

"What do these represent?" Soldier 76 asks, pointing to the screens.

"X, Y and Z are the spacial dimensions, T for time and W is the axis on which the realities are stacked, these screens will display the reality's address in order," Ford answers as him and Fiddleford slowly turn the device's head with the antenna to get a signal. The light on top of the panel and on the antenna flash red as the old men slowly sweep it across the sky.

Stan drags his hands across his face in annoyance and he mouths to Soldier 76, "They're going to take 18 hours at this rate."

Soldier 76 nods and walks towards the pair, shoeing them away, grabbing the handles of the machine and sweeping it up. The lights flash green.

"When I said 'here' I meant that we're underneath it," the soldier says, limping away from the device and holding his left arm, blood seeping through the wrappings.

"Thank you," Ford says, pressing the button at the bottom of the panel and letters and numbers fill in the screens.

Stan disappears into the boat's cabin and reappears with a first aid kit in hand. Stan walks up to the soldier, setting the kit on a nearby barrel and removing the old dressing. Soldier 76 watches as Stan wraps a new dressing onto his arm.

"Alright good as new, sort of, lets go back to shore," Stan says, walking back to the wheel.

While the older men were fishing for addresses, the twins were walking around town with Wendy when the trio notices a black cloud floating ominously down the street. They share a look, following it into the forest where it forms into a man with a hooded coat and clawed hands. His left are still stained with blood.

Dipper gasps and turns to the others, "You think this is the guy that Soldier was talking about?"

"He looks like he listens to My Chemical Romance," Mabel says with a giggle.

Wendy starts to sneak away, "Well we best leg it back to the lake and tell Soldier that Fall Out Boy followed him."

The twins nod and the trio quickly sneak away, making it back to the lake just in time to see Soldier 76 and the others get off the Stan O' War II.

Mabel hops out of the truck and speeds to Soldier 76, surprising him with her sudden appearance.

"We found your emo boyfriend!" she says.

Soldier 76 looks at her in confusion, "What?"

Wendy walks up to him, "Big tall guy, wearing a lot of black, white skull mask, clawed gloves, left one's blood stained. Looks edgier than Robbie, which I didn't think was possible."

Soldier 76 tenses up, "Reaper, he followed me, where did you spot him?"

Dipper is about to answer when Stan interrupts, "Nope, nuh-uh, you're heading back to the Shack with Wendy and taking a nap. We'll keep an eye on tall, dark and gruesome."

"But," Soldier 76 objects and Stan shakes his head, "No butts, take them back to the shack and take yours to bed. Wendy, take the short cut if you have to."

Wendy grins, "You got it Stan."

She gently pushes the soldier into the truck, getting in and driving off to the shack.

As they're driving back to the shack, Soldier 76 turns to Wendy, "What's the short cut?"

She grins at him, "We would go straight through the forest on a path that's hard to find if you don't know where to look. Takes you straight to the shack. The rest of the Zodiac use it constantly."

Soldier 76 raises his brow, "What is this 'Zodiac'? I've heard it twice now."

"Well the Zodiac, which is Dipper, Mabel, Stan, Ford, Soos, Fiddleford, Gideon, Pacifica, Robbie and myself, and we help the townsfolk get along with our weird but mostly nice, neighbours. Got to have some people to help keep the peace," she says as she parks the truck in front of the shack.

Wendy unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the truck, "Well you head to your room and take a nap, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

Soldier 76 nods, getting out of the truck and following her inside. He heads into his room to see a blanket and pillow on the sofa. The soldier takes off his visor and boots, setting them down. He moves the pillow in comfortable position, laying down on the sofa and closes his eyes.

The nap was interrupted as Soldier 76 abruptly sits up, panting and sweating. His eyes dart around the room as he takes deep, painful breaths to steady himself. After calming down enough he stands up, walking through the door and to the kitchen. Sure enough, Wendy is in the kitchen sitting at the table, playing with her phone.

She looks up at the soldier, "Yikes, looks like you didn't get a good nap."

Soldier 76 shakes his head as he goes to the sink for a glass of water, "No, something about maniacal laughter always digs up old memories."

Wendy looks at him, "If you don't mind me asking, does this laughter have a particular sound to it?"

Soldier 76 drinks his water, "High pitched, almost mocking, unlike Reaper's."

"I know what he looks like, but I don't know how the latter edgelord sounds," Wendy says with a smile.

Soldier 76 pulls out a seat and sits down across from Wendy as she puts down her phone.

She looks at him for awhile, "Y'know, I expected you to be older, from the white hair, the gruff voice, but you look like my dad's age."

"Are you alright?" she asks the soldier.

Soldier 76 drinks his water, "Yes I am, it was just a bad dream."

"Ha ha, you're not getting rid of me that easily, seriously, your hair is white, you're scarred like no tomorrow and you just woke up from being harassed by an isosceles ghost. Are you really ok?" Wendy asks gently.

Soldier 76 stares into his glass, "Not really, no."

"Alright, so what's the story behind the face and neck scars?" Wendy asks.

Soldier 76 looks at her, "Do I have your word you won't tell anybody?"

Wendy nods, zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key.

"Funny, you're so alike that other kid," he says.

"Dipper? I taught it to him last summer, stop stalling," Wendy says.

Soldier 76 swirls the water in his glass, "My old team's main HQ was attacked inside and out, our enemies blew up the building with me along with it. My team was later disbanded by the government and any actions performed under it's name is considered a global offence."

"So your friends think you're dead and you're like what, a vigilante?" Wendy asks.

"I'm just a soldier fighting for what I think is right," he answers as he drinks his water.

Wendy narrows her eyes, "Your wanted aren't you?"

Soldier 76 chokes on his water and coughs before responding, "What gave it away?"

Wendy holds up a few fingers, "Your story and your answer to my question, also your gear. No one carries that stuff around casually."

Soldier 76 rubs his throat and pulls a face, "Fair enough."

Wendy checks her phone as it buzzes, "Well, they're coming back and just in time for dinner too. Oh yeah, Soldier, if the isosceles ghost comes back again go talk to Ford."

Soldier 76 nods, "Got it."


	5. Time to go!

At around midnight, Soldier 76 jerks awake, gasping for breath and struggling to keep his heart steady. The soldier stands shakily to feet, trying to steady his breathing as he stumbles towards the door. He needs to find Ford, now that he knows what Wendy meant by 'if the isosceles ghost comes back'. He opens the door, stumbling out into the hallway and slamming into the wall. The soldier attempts to take deep breaths despite the pain in his stomach and back.

"Are you alright Soldier?" Dipper asks from in front of him.

"F-Ford, where's Ford?" Soldier 76 manages to wheeze out.

Dipper waves his hand, "Oh, yeah. I know exactly what you mean. Follow me."

As Soldier 76 follows Dipper into the gift shop he realises something, "Wait a minute, what are you doing awake?"

Dipper smiles at him, "Same as you, though I know how to deal with it."

Dipper leads him to the vending machine, inputting a code and the vending machine swings open, letting Dipper and Soldier 76 down to the elevator.

"I hope you weren't looking at that," Dipper says as they ride the elevator down.

"What?" Soldier 76 asks, not sure what he's talking about.

Dipper laughs, "I guess you didn't look."

After getting off of the elevator, Dipper leads Soldier 76 deeper into the basement were Ford seems to be working on something.

"Gruncle Ford, Soldier's here to see you, I'll be back upstairs," Dipper says as he leaves.

Ford turns to look at Soldier 76, eyes darting to the shadows. Ford grabs a glass and fills it up with water, offering it to the soldier, "Here."

Soldier 76 nods his thanks, grabbing the glass and drinking deeply.

Ford winces at the movement, "Yikes, he really had his fun with you didn't he?"

"You already know, don't you?" Solider 76 asks after finishing the glass.

Ford nods, taking the glass and offering some cookies, "Wendy warned me and I'm quite familiar with the scalene bastard's tricks anyway."

Soldier grabs a few of the cookies, "Scalene bastard? Isosceles ghost? Seriously, what is happening here?"

"You're being harassed by essentially the ghost of a dream demon called Bill Cipher, saying his name is completely harmless, but I ask that you do not say it, out of respect for any victims," Ford answers, grabbing a chair for Soldier 76 to sit down on.

Soldier 76 nods and sits down, "Is he like an enemy of sorts?"

Ford nods, also sitting down, "Used to be, the scalene bastard is of course, a ghost now. Has been since last summer."

"So how do I deal with this bastard? He seems really twisted to play with my fears and dreams like this," Soldier 76 says, leaning back into the chair.

Ford give the soldier a weak smile, "He's extremely twisted and I found that the best way to get rid of him, is to let go of whatever he's tormenting you with. It's kind of a backwards way of dealing with him, but it works."

"Well the thing he's tormenting me with is not something I really want to share."

"He'll stop when you go home, but I'm assuming you want to go back to sleep?" Ford asks.

Soldier 76 groans, at least he knows that he can trust Wendy and Dipper, but he's not too sure about Ford.

Ford sighs, "I understand that you don't trust me, on account of the threat I made the other day and I'm still very wary of you, but you're being tormented by someone I hate far more than you."

Soldier 76 looks at him, "Do I have your word you won't tell anyone?"

Ford nods, "I'll take it to my grave if I have to."

"The scalene bastard's using my fears to torment me, fears about if I'm the one on the wrong path and about what Talon is planning," Soldier 76 says, staring at the high ceiling.

"Didn't you say you went up against top agents of Talon on your own? You should've known going up against them without backup was a bad idea forming," Ford says, leaning forward in his seat.

Soldier 76 groans, rubbing his face, "Didn't have any backup, although, in hindsight I probably should've asked my old team to help. But I'm a bit annoyed at an old friend for the stunt he pulled."

"I'm not the best at advice, nor do I want your story, but I will say this; go to your old team, they don't need to know what you're hiding or anything but rejoin up with them. You are fighting the same battle aren't you?" Ford asks.

Soldier 76 nods before getting up and walking back to the elevator. He turns back to Ford, "You're not down here because of the scalene bastard are you?"

Ford shakes his head and looks at his watch, "Noooo, I actually lost track of time."

The soldier nods, heading to the elevator and back up to his room to get a little more sleep in before everyone wakes.

In the morning, Soldier 76 gets woken up by something getting thrown into his face. He sits up, his stomach protesting at the movement as the two sweaters tumble off his face. He turns his head to an eager looking Mabel.

She beams more, "I finished your sweaters! Do you like them?"

Soldier 76 looks at the sweaters separately, the jacket one that was half done when she first shown him and a new one. This new sweater is a medium red with the number 76 on it's back in black. He looks at the front which has a blue, black and white gryphon orb trying to look fierce. He pulls the gryphon one over his head, it fits snugly. With a bit of extra room to fit his vest underneath it.

"I made the neck a bit longer so you can pull it over your face and go into sweater town!" Mabel says with glee.

"Sweater town?" Soldier 76 questions, looking at the extended neck.

Mabel nods, "Like so!" she pulls the neck of her sweater up over her face.

She pulls the knitting down as Stan walks in with Soldier 76's carrier vest and a bag, "We replaced the plating in your vest and you can keep this bag. Poindexter says you're going later today."

Soldier 76 nods, getting up off of the sofa, grabbing the bag and putting the extra sweater in it. He grabs his visor and slips it on. He removes the gryphon sweater to painfully pull on his vest over the shirt. The soldier pulls the sweater back on.

"I wouldn't mind a short walk in the forest," Soldier 76 says to Mabel.

She grins and grabs his good arm, leading him down the hall, "Dipper, Soldier wants to go walk in the forest!"

"Coming!" comes Dipper's answer as he runs into view.

"I'll get your stuff together for you!" Stan calls after him.

"Thank you!" Soldier 76 calls back as he's lead outside after tugging his boots on.

Once the twins lead the vigilante out into the forest, they take him down a relatively well used path. They walk along this path for what seemed like a few minutes when Soldier 76 hears something. He looks around and finds a pretty thick but short branch, picking it up.

"What's wrong Soldier?" Mabel asks.

"I hear Mr. Evanescence," Soldier 76 says as he swings the branch, swinging at Reaper as he apparates in front of the soldier.

Reaper grabs the branch, ripping it out of the soldier's hands, grabbing his shirt collar, laughing as he punches Soldier 76 when a grappling hook whizzes past his head, interrupting another punch.

Reaper pushes Soldier 76 away, advancing towards Mabel when the Talon agent is suddenly choked back by the vigilante, struggling away from the kids.

As the two men are struggling against one another, the twins duck behind the trees. Dipper stares at the tree-line, taking a couple of breaths before peeking out to see Reaper teleport out of Soldier 76's grasp. Dipper ducks back behind the tree as Reaper reforms some distance away, pulling out his hellfire shotguns.

Soldier 76 ducks behind a tree as buckshot slams into the trunk. As Reaper grabs another pair of shotguns, Soldier 76 grabs the twins and tugs them with him as he ducks behind another tree. The trio do the same thing as Reaper advances closer. They start to quickly work their way back to the shack doing duck, dodge and run.

While Soldier 76 and the twins are dodging for their lives away from Reaper, Ford is poking at the soldier's fusion gun as Stan puts the soldier's bag in his car's boot. Soldier 76's jacket and gloves are sitting on the car's bonnet.

Stan checks his watch, "I hope they're back soon, since your a stickler about how long the portal's open for, he hasn't got a lot of time."

Ford nods as he aims with the fusion gun, "No he doesn't."

Soldier 76 and the twins burst from forest, legging it across the shack's large yard. The Gruncles narrow their eyes in confusion when Reaper appears close behind, shooting at the trio as they dodge the buckshot.

"Um, is the black veil bride, _shooting_ at our Great- niece and nephew?" Stan asks as he grabs Soldier 76's jacket and gloves.

Ford brings up the gun and aims, "He'll be panicking at the disco in a minute."

Soldier 76 notices Ford aiming his own gun at him, he grabs the collars of the twins' shirts and dives to the ground with them as Ford shoots Reaper.

Mabel picks her face up from the ground, "Bleh, grass in braces."

Soldier 76 gets up and looks at Ford, "I though you were going to shoot _me_. Wait, I had a lock on that."

Ford looks confused, "Oh so _that's_ what that was."

Soldier 76 grabs his gun from him, "Give me that."

"Ummmm, he's linkin' himself back together in the car park," Stan says as he helps Soldier 76 change out of sweater for his jacket, when he notices Reaper forming himself back together.

"Alright time to go to the mansion, now, everyone in!" Ford says, jumping into the passenger seat.

The twins and Soldier 76 climb into the back, Mabel in the right seat, Dipper in the middle and Soldier 76 on the left seat. The fusion gun is sitting in their laps, with the muzzle on Soldier 76's.

Stan jumps into the driver's seat after closing the boot, starting the engine and driving off, nearly hitting Reaper.

"Aw I missed," Stan whines as he drives towards town.

Soldier 76 smacks his head on the roof, earning a grunt from him, "You'll only annoy him more."

Stan tilts the rear-view mirror to see Reaper catching up to his car, "Well shit, the bastard's catching up."

Ford checks the speedometer and pales, "He is not human if he can catch up to a car going 50 miles per hour."

Soldier 76 hits his head on the roof again, grunting in annoyance, "He's not running."

Suddenly a clawed hand smashes through the window, grabbing Soldier 76 by the neck and attempting to pull him out it. Soldier 76 tries to pull Reaper off of his neck as the twins scramble for his fusion gun. His eyes widen underneath the visor as the muzzle is faced towards him and he flattens himself against the seat as Reaper gets blown away.

"Ow! Hot! Hot!" Dipper says, taking his hands off of the barrel.

"Mabel, sweetie, not in the car!" Stan yells.

Soldier 76 grabs his fusion gun from Mabel, "Give me that! Guns aren't toys!"

Soldier 76 pokes his gun out the window, squeezing off his own rounds as his head hits the top rim, "Auugh! Watch where you're going!"

"I am!" Ford answers, the one not driving.

Soldier 76 stares at him, "What?!"

The twins scream as Reaper lands on the roof.

"Remember what I said to watch the road? I take that back," Soldier 76 says.

Stan grins, Ford pales, bracing, "Stanley wait!"

"Ladies and gentlemen keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, except for all current members of imagine dragons!" Stan yells, thumping the roof.

Stan drifts around the next corner.

As the mansion's street comes into view, Reaper punches out Stan's window, his masked face coming into Stan's view.

Stan screams as he punches Reaper off of his car, driving up to the mansion's gates.

"I'm glad he's wearing a mask! It protects my fragile heart from his face!" Stan remarks as he parks in the mansion's courtyard.

The mansion looks well cared for and the same as it was when the Northwest's had it, except now it has spare metal littering the yard and the occasional animal. Despite the yard's outlook, the mansion still retains it's original pioneer glory.

The Pines and Soldier 76 get out of the car, Stan grabbing Soldier's bag from the boot as they run into the mansion. Ford leads them down to a large room near the back on one of the wings of the mansion. They enter the portal room, panting.

Soldier 76 looks up at the large portal, an upside down triangle with new bits wielded on, making it look like a sharp hourglass. A ramp leads up to just under the gate's symbols. The room itself is fairly bright, the installed generators and panels spread throughout the room. The panels and machines themselves are moderately well cared for, the wiring bundled up out of the way.

Mabel walks up to Soldier 76 with gauze in her hands, "Here lets wrap your neck up before you say good-bye."

She lifts up the torn visor cloth and wraps the gauze securely around his neck, pulling the cloth back over.

"Whoa, jeez. New bandmate for Robbie comin' up the road!" Pacifica yells from the front of the mansion.

Soldier 76 peeks out just as Reaper walks in, spotting the soldier and advancing towards him. The vigilante checks that his plates are secure, his gun's loaded and his new bag is secure.

"Well, that's my cue to leave with three days and grace," Soldier 76 says as he walks up the ramp.

"Bye Soldier!" Mabel calls waving, Dipper waving next to her.

"Take care of yourself!" Stan says with a grin, standing next to Ford.

Ford smiles at him, "Fare well Soldier 76, if you end up here again, you know who to ask."

Reaper appears in the room and everyone ducks. Soldier 76 walks backwards up the ramp, waving his gun at him. Reaper disappears into a cloud of black and reappears before 76, pushing both of them through the gate.

Ford and Fiddleford shut-down the portal.

Ford sighs, "This close, this close to figuring out cold fusion. If he just stayed for twelve more minutes."

Stan looks at him disappointed, "So that's why you were poking at the gun, honestly that doesn't surprise me. But I'm pretty sure he had that lock on there on purpose."

"So I don't mean to mention this, but, um, should we maybe worry that this 'Talon' group has a portal?" Dipper asks.

Mabel and Stan pale, "Uuuuuuh…."

Ford shrugs and waves his hand dismissively, "Oh I'm sure our wanted friend can take care of it."

"Says the man that threatened him as soon as he woke up from his injuries," Stan counters.

"Any idea what kind of world they came out of, Poindexter?" Stan asks.

Ford checks a few of the machines, "No, but I have theories based on his gear and how he was acting in the car on the way here."

"Well what are they?" Mabel asks eagerly.

"Well he obviously comes a reality in the 'future' or at least one more advanced than ours to discover cold fusion, and possibly hover cars," Ford says.

"That explains why he was really annoyed at the bumps, he wasn't used to it," Stan agrees.

Pacifica pokes her head into the room, "Yo, Pines, Fiddleford put on some tea, want some?"

The Pines nod their heads in agreement.

As the Pines are walking along the hallway, Mabel speaks up, "Dipper makes a point though, Talon has a portal, they might be back."

Ford stops in his tracks, "Hmmm, that is true. We may need to keep our eyes open then."

"Ok this talk of death, doom and the apocalypse 2.0 is giving me bad vibes, lets go drink our tea and have a fun summer," Stan says in annoyance.

He gets noises of agreement in answer as the Pines walk through the mansion, leaving the portal room alone for hopefully, a while.


End file.
